One Christmas my parents didn't have anymoney. Actually, many Christmases they didn't have any money, but oneChristmas in particular money was very scarce. 

I only wanted one gift. A guitar. I hadbeen taking lessons for a year and had outgrown the beginner's guitar myparents gave me on a whim the previous Christmas. I didn't expect toreceive a new guitar, but come Christmas morning, there it was under thetree. 

Forty-five years later, I still havethat guitar. Recently I took it to a music store for some much-neededrepair and the man admired it for an hour, claiming they didn't makeguitars like that anymore. I walked out of the store feeling all warmand fuzzy inside, remembering how excited I was to receive it forChristmas decades earlier.

So what does that guitar have to do withbooks?  There was only one other gift under the tree for me thatChristmas, and it was a book. I don't remember the name of the book now,it's been too many years, but I remember the story. 

It was a science fiction book and theplot was fascinating. The story began with an ordinary family living atabout the time the book was written, back in the 1970's. The story endedabout two or three hundred years in the future, where technology hadtaken over society and people were obsolete. I was fourteen at the time(okay, if you are trying to figure out my age, I will tell you, I'm 59).I wondered if that's how it would be in the future. 

Through the years, I have thought aboutthat book and wished I could go back and read it again. Some books staywith you for life because they make you ponder ideas, ask questions, orthink about something differently. Whether you read nonfiction forknowledge or fiction to be entertained, books have probably impactedsociety more than any other creative activity undertaken by man. Reading good books has broadened my perspective on many topics and enriched my life. 

Perhaps this Christmas you don't have alot of money to spend on gifts. Have you considered giving books asChristmas presents? I'd be willing to bet they will outlast the latestiPhone or iMac computer. Ten years from now, those electronic gadgetswill be in a landfill somewhere, long replaced by something bigger andfaster. Stories last forever,  like that book my dad gave me forChristmas when he hardly had a dime to spare. When is the last time youread a really good book anyway? Probably too long.

The John 3:16 Marketing Network has puttogether a list of Christian books and compared them to many, well-knownsecular books readers will recognize. Take a few moments and peruse theforty-five -plus books linked below for ideas that you won't findanywhere else. 

Many hours went into putting these bookcomparisons together and most of the books have been deeply discounted. Many are in both Kindle and print version. All of them are linked toAmazon for easy purchase.